BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Whenever people talk about deployments, the list of the sacrifices that are made by both the service member and their families left behind, are usually lengthy but similar. Occasionally, you will meet someone like Lt. Col. Shmuel Felzenberg. Although you will almost never hear him talk about it, he too has a lengthy list, but his is a little different.
He might be a little smaller in stature, but when Felzenberg enters a room, he automatically commands the attention in a light hearted, familiar way. Within seconds of meeting him for the first time, you can't help but be drawn to his energy.
"He is the Lion of Judah, the Boss of BAF, the Deputy Dawg, and all around great guy," said Lt. Col. Bill Killough, U.S. Forces Afghanistan command chaplain. "He is just a wild character that speaks his mind; he is like the energizer bunny."
Most of those qualities would seem typical for the U.S. Forces Afghanistan deputy command chaplain, but Felzenberg is far from typical. Out of the 1,614 active duty chaplains, Felzenberg is one of only 10 active duty rabbis, and not just one…he is the senior one. Being the senior and most deployed Jewish chaplain, he comfortably steps into the teacher, mentor, shepherd, and steward role. One distinct piece of advice he is able to share, is how to maintain your religious dietary needs.
Through the whole deployment, while most people head to the dining facility or in some cases grab a MRE, Felzenberg does not. He maintains his strict kosher standards.
While many have heard that kosher means that a rabbi blessed the food, that is false. There are blessings that observant Jews recite before partaking of the food, but that has nothing to do with making the food kosher. The kosher laws are complex and are broken into categories such as; permitted and prohibited food sources, preparation of meat, separation of meat and dairy, and kosher ingredients and utensils. Because of the strict requirements, to properly obey them all, during meal time Felzenberg turns his workspace into a make-shift field kitchen.
"I make all 3 meals every day when I am deployed," said Felzenberg. "I cannot have a single piece of fresh fish, not a single piece of fresh poultry or beef because obviously I can't access a good steak or burger here."
Most of his meals come out of a can, a box, or a package, but as he talked to me while making potato latkes created from a boxed mixture and a bottle of water, cooked on an electric griddle in the base chapel annex, he pointed out that his struggles are minuscule compared to what some of his children have been through.
"I have a son who went through one of the military academies successfully observing strict kosher standards" Felzenberg said. "And another son that went through basic training, AIT, and SERE school while observing strict kosher standards the whole time."
It might be tough sometimes to maintain the diet, but to Felzenberg, the end result is worth the trouble.
"Yes, you have to scale back in this environment, but at the end of the day, it makes it that much more rewarding to be able to step up, look back, and say I did this, even in this setting."
It would be easier for Felzenberg to prepare his food in a full kitchen, but that is another sacrifice that he made on this voluntary deployment.
"The Rabbi definitely cares about the Jewish community here," said Killough. "He could have easily left three weeks ago when IJC [ISAF Joint Command] left, but he was intent on staying the extra three weeks to accommodate the Jewish Soldiers and contractors in Afghanistan."
Although he would love to spend the holidays with his family, like always, Felzenberg is thinking of others first.
"It's important to spend the holidays with your family," Felzenberg said. "But when I look back at my own service, I remember spending many holidays away and I found it to be appropriate to stay through the season. I would be fool-hearty not to extend and either leave a void of service, or require another rabbi to come from the states, be away from their family, and be a great cost to that chaplain and the taxpayer."
Due to the deployed environment, last minute missions, and unique situations, sometimes the turn out for services is not the best, but Felzenberg doesn't seem to notice. On the second night of Hanukkah, as service was supposed to start, Felzenberg looked out to the crowd and saw a lone Soldier sitting in the front row. With a smile on his face, he grabbed his handouts and held service as if the chapel was standing room only.
"It's not about the sheer numbers, it's about the flock that comes," said Felzenberg. "When you are stateside and people have multiple options, it's one thing. When you are down range and there is not an alternative, it is a phenomenal ministry experience for both the provider and person who is provided the support."
Hanukkah is now over, and Felzenberg has left Afghanistan, but his presence will remain with the Soldiers he met on the deployment.
"His sacrifices meant the world to the Jewish community and the commanders here," said Killough. "Everything he and his family sacrificed for their religious community group is not going unnoticed."
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